


Jemma's Hairstyle

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, FitzSimmons fluff, Gen, I have a headcanon where Jemma started curling her hair because she liked Skye's hair so much, Tumblr Prompt, probably between episodes 1 and 2 of season 1?, set on the Bus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-03-30 22:45:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3954658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><a href="http://jemmaginary.tumblr.com/">jemmaginary</a> has a headcanon that Fitz used to braid Simmons' hair. This is my version of how that might have happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jemma's Hairstyle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amazingjemma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amazingjemma/gifts).



"You've got _such_ lovely hair, Skye," Jemma smiled a bit stiffly. It's not that it wasn't true, it was just that it seemed a bit impractical for their current lifestyle. Still, if you wanted to make friends with new people, you should make an effort to be nice to them. And her hair really _was_ lovely.

"So do you," Skye pointed out as she unpacked her things. "I mean, it's kinda hard to tell with it all pulled back like that," she shrugged. "But it's shiny?"

Jemma took a deep breath and smiled a bit more naturally. "That's very kind of you," she said a bit patronizingly, waving it off and pulling a stress toy out of the box. "Where would you like this?"

"Wherever," Skye shrugged. She grabbed the toy, squeezed it once, and then tossed it on her bed. She pursed her lips and looked at Jemma appraisingly. Reaching out, she tugged on her ponytail.

"What?" Jemma spluttered, looking up from where she'd been leaning over the box. "What was that for?" she asked, patting her hair back into place.

"Just..." Skye put her hands on Jemma's shoulders and turned her around. "Look, I just want to try something, okay?"

\------------------------

Fitz looked up from where he was trying to debug his code. He was about to call Simmons over to get her eyes on it when he stopped short.

"What've you done with your hair?" he asked a bit accusingly.

Jemma blushed and ran her fingers through the luxurious curls. Lifting her head haughtily, she put on her lab coat. "Skye curled it," she said coolly.

Fitz stuttered impotently for a moment. "Well," he sputtered, "That's just..." He looked at her in horror.

"Just _what_ , Fitz?" she asked with a certain amount of exasperation as she pulled on her gloves.

He stared at her for a moment longer before turning abruptly back to his code. "Against lab protocols," he said stiffly.

She just rolled her eyes and tossed her curls back over her shoulders before getting to work.

\------------------------

Jemma sighed for a moment in resignation. She really did  _love_ what Skye had done to her hair, but now she had to ruin it. She tugged the elastic band off her wrist and brushed her hair back off her shoulders. Leaning her head back, she ran her fingers through it several times to comb out any tangles there might be and, if she were being honest with herself, enjoying how silky it felt between her fingers. 

She'd have to ask Skye for the name of that shampoo. 

After a few more brush throughs than were strictly speaking necessary, she gathered her hair together in one hand and used the other to wrap it with her elastic. With one final tug to make sure it was secure, she turned to get the next batch of samples from the other table. 

Fitz was staring at her with the strangest look on his face. 

"What's _that_ look for?" she asked.

Fitz blinked and shook his head. "I just got the most brilliant idea for a cascading architecture model for my code."

\------------------------

At the end of the day, Jemma wandered back to her bunk, deep in conversation with Fitz. 

"Curls don't work with science, huh?" Skye asked from where she was sitting cross-legged on her own bed. 

"Unfortunately not," Jemma smiled back. "But I  _did_ love them!" she was quick to point out.

"I totally get it," Skye smiled back. "Pretty hair is completely doable when you're sitting at a laptop all day," she said. "But not so much when you're working with chemicals and poisons and stuff."

" _Exactly,_ " Fitz chimed in. "And that's why we have lab protocols!"

"Oh  _Fitz_ ," Jemma hit him gently on the chest with the back of her hand. "You  _know_ I only had it down like that when I was doing scut work. I put it up before I started in on the 0-8-4." She looked back at Skye apologetically. "And now the curl is ruined," she frowned. "I'm sorry all of your hard work was wasted."

"Don't even," Skye brushed it off. "But next time, maybe try a braid instead? Then you'd still have  _some_ curl when you take it out."

"Oh," Simmons smiled awkwardly. "I'll do that, yes."

Later, when it was just the two of them making tea in the kitchen, Fitz had to ask.

"Why'd you get so weird when Skye told you to braid your hair?"

"It's just," Jemma winced slightly. "I don't know how?" she admitted.

"I thought all girls knew that sort of thing," Fitz assumed.

Jemma smiled wistfully. "Apparently not?"

\------------------------

Jemma walked into the lab feeling a bit self-conscious. She'd curled her own hair that morning and, while it hadn't turned out as well as when Skye had done it, she hoped it still looked alright. 

She exchanged a quick good morning with Fitz, but turned away from him as soon as he looked up. Grabbing a pair of gloves from her box, she busied herself with her usual morning set-up routine. 

He didn't make any comments about how ridiculous she looked, so she supposed it wasn't that terrible. 

\------------------------

It was just past 10:00 and time to start in on the real work of the day. With a self-deprecating smile, she nodded at Fitz to keep talking while she brushed her hair back off her shoulders in preparation for putting it up in a ponytail.

"D'you want me to braid that for you?" Fitz asked, interrupting himself mid-sentence.

"What?" she asked, taken by surprise.

"Skye said that if you want to keep it all curly like that you should braid it, right?"

"Well yes, but..."

"And you can't braid."

"Thanks for the reminder."

"So I watched a couple of youtube tutorials last night," he shrugged. "I can do it for you."

Jemma gave him a slow, surprised smile. "Thank you, Fitz," she said, feeling rather touched. "That's very sweet of you."

Fitz blushed and cleared his throat. "Well, I just reckon it's hard to do something like that when you can't see what you're doing is all," he explained. 

"Of course," Jemma agreed, giving him an out.

"So, should I...?" he asked, pointing to her hair. 

"Sure," she answered, turning around and offering him her elastic.

She closed her eyes when his hands buried themselves in her hair and combed through, massaging her scalp along the way. It was such a lovely, tickly, tingly sensation to have her hair played with, and she sighed as he worked his fingers through a few more times. He was going slowly and carefully, obviously trying not to pull on any tangles and trying to figure out just what it was he was doing. 

"Is this okay?" he asked, now gathering her hair up from the bottom and combing through again. 

"It's lovely," she said happily, almost wanting to fall asleep. 

He chuckled nervously and divided her hair in sections, and from the way he was moving bits here and there, she could tell he was trying to get them exactly even. 

"It doesn't have to be perfect," she reassured him. "Just out of the way."

"I know," he replied. "I'm just trying to do a good job of it is all."

She smiled and relaxed backward a bit as he started pulling her hair into the braid. "Well, you can feel free to practice any time you like," she said enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm," she nodded. 

"Hey now, none of that!" he warned her. "It'll go crooked!"

"Sorry," she grinned, trying to keep still. 

He hummed to himself as he slowly worked his way down to the end. It was the usual aimless hum he made whenever he was happily using his hands, and she wondered if he was having as much fun as she was. 

After a minute or two more, she could feel him wrap the elastic around the end. 

"There!" he said proudly. "Braided!"

She raised a hand to feel his work. It was a bit loose, but seemed to be remarkably straight and even from what she could tell. 

"Brilliant," she smiled broadly. "Thanks for that!"

"Any time," he grinned back. 

\------------------------

"See?" Skye asked while they were on her bed watching a movie on her laptop that night. "I told you a braid would let you keep the curl better."

Jemma ran her fingers through her still-wavy hair and smiled. "When you're right, you're right," she agreed. 

Fitz waved at them through the doorway as he and Ward walked past on their way to the lounge. 

"That braid was a great idea."


End file.
